August 7
The Northern Hemisphere is considered to be halfway through its summer on this day. Events * 322 BC - Battle of Crannon between Athens and Alexander the Great of Macedon. * 1679 - The brigantine Le Griffon, commissioned by René Robert Cavelier, is towed to the south-eastern end of the Niagara River, to become the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes of North America. * 1714 - The first important victory of the Russian Navy - the Battle of Gangut. * 1782 - George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit to honor soldiers wounded in battle. It is later renamed to the more poetic Purple Heart. * 1789 - The United States War Department is established. * 1794 - Whiskey Rebellion begins: Farmers in the Monongahela Valley of Pennsylvania rebel against the federal tax on liquor and distilled drinks. * 1819 - Simón Bolívar triumphs over Spain in the Battle of Boyacá. * 1879 - The opening of the Poor Man's Palace in Manchester. * 1927 - The Peace Bridge opens, between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York. * 1933 - The Iraqi Government slaughtered over 3,000 Assyrians in the village of Sumail. The day becomes Assyrian Martyrs Day. * 1940 - Alsace Lorraine is annexed by the Third Reich (Germany) during World War II * 1942 - World War II: Battle of Guadalcanal begins - U.S. Marines initiate the first American offensive of the war with landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. * 1944 - IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I). * 1945 - President Harry Truman announces the bombing of Hiroshima with an atomic bomb while returning from the Potsdam Conference aboard the heavy cruiser USS Augusta in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. * 1947 - Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101-day, 7000-km (4375-mile) journey across the Pacific Ocean proving that pre-historic peoples could have traveled from South America. * 1947 - The Bombay Municipal Corporation formally takes over the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST). * 1955 - Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering, the precursor to Sony, begins selling its first Transistor radios in Japan. * 1959 - The Lincoln Memorial design on the U.S. penny goes into circulation. It replaces the "sheaves of wheat" design and is still in use. * 1959 - Explorer program: Explorer 6 launched from the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida. * 1960 - Côte d'Ivoire becomes independent. * 1964 - Vietnam War: The U.S. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving US President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war powers to deal with North Vietnamese attacks on American forces. * 1966 - Race riots occur in Lansing, Michigan. * 1967 - Vietnam War: The People's Republic of China agrees to give North Vietnam an undisclosed amount of aid in the form of a grant. * 1970 - California judge Harold Haley is taken hostage in his courtroom and killed during in an effort to free George Jackson from police custody. * 1973 - NBC airs the final day of the Watergate hearings on U.S. daytime television. * 1976 - Viking program: Viking 2 enters into orbit around Mars. * 1978 - United States President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal. * 1981 - The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication. * 1985 - Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts. * 1988 - Rioting in New York City's Tompkins Square Park. * 1989 - U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland (D-TX) and 15 others die in a plane crash in Ethiopia. * 1996 - ZZ Top's album: Eliminator reaches Diamond having sold more than 10 million copies. * 1997 - Garth Brooks plays to 750,000 people in Central Park. * 1998 - Bombing of the United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, kill 224 people and injure over 4,500. * 1999 - A group of Indian army veterans launch the political party Rashtriya Raksha Dal. *2007 - Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants breaks baseball great Hank Aaron's record by hitting his 756th home run. Births * 317 - Constantius II, Roman emperor (d. 361) * 1400 - Guillaume Dufay, French composer (d. 1474) * 1533 - Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga, Basque soldier and poet (d. 1595) * 1560 - Elizabeth Báthory, Hungarian countess and serial killer (d. 1614) * 1574 - Robert Dudley, English writer (d. 1649) * 1598 - Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish poet (d. 1672) * 1726 - James Bowdoin, American Revolutionary leader and politician (d. 1790) * 1742 - Nathanael Greene, American Revolutionary general (d. 1786) * 1779 - Louis de Freycinet, French explorer (d. 1842) * 1779 - Carl Ritter, German geographer (d. 1859) * 1844 - Auguste Michel-Lévy, French geologist (d. 1911) * 1860 - Alan Leo, British astrologer (d. 1917) * 1867 - Emil Nolde, German painter (d. 1956) * 1876 - Mata Hari, Dutch spy (d. 1917) * 1877 - Ulrich Salchow, Swedish figure skater (d. 1949) * 1885 - Billie Burke, American actress (d. 1970) * 1901 - Ann Harding, American actress (d. 1981) * 1903 - Louis Leakey, British archaeologist (d. 1972) * 1904 - Ralph Bunche, American diplomat, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1971) * 1907 - Albert Kotin, American abstract expressionist painter of the New York School (d. 1980) * 1911 - Nicholas Ray, American actor, director and scenarist (d. 1979) * 1913 - George Van Eps, noted American guitarist (d. 1998) * 1921 - Manitas de Plata, Gypsy guitarist * 1925 - M. S. Swaminathan, Indian scientist * 1925 - Felice Bryant, American country songwriter and singer (d. 2003) * 1926 - Stan Freberg, American voice comedian * 1927 - Edwin W. Edwards, four-term Louisiana governor * 1927 - Art Houtteman, baseball player (d. 2003) * 1927 - Carl Switzer, American child actor (d. 1959) * 1928 - Romeo Muller, American screenwriter (d. 1992) * 1928 - James Randi, Canadian magician * 1929 - Don Larsen, baseball player * 1931 - Charles E. Rice, Legal Scholar and Author * 1932 - Abebe Bikila, Ethiopan athlete (d. 1973) * 1932 - Dr. Maurice Rabb, Jr., African American ophthalmologist * 1932 - Edward Hardwicke, British actor * 1933 - Eddie Firmani, South African football player and coach * 1936 - Rahsaan Roland Kirk, American saxophonist (d. 1977) * 1939 - Anjanette Comer, American actress * 1940 - Jean-Luc Dehaene, Prime Minister of Belgium * 1942 - Tobin Bell, American actor * 1942 - Garrison Keillor, American writer and radio host * 1942 - Carlos Monzón, Argentine boxer * 1942 - B.J. Thomas, American singer * 1942 - Caetano Veloso, Brazilian musician * 1943 - Dino Valente, American musician Quicksilver Messenger Service (d. 1994) * 1943 - Alain Corneau, French film director * 1944 - David Rasche, American actor * 1945 - Alan Page, American football player * 1946 - Ed Seykota, commodities and futures trader * 1947 - Franciscus Henri (Franciscus Henricus Antheunis), children's entertainer, composer and artist * 1948 - Greg Chappell, Australian test cricket player, captain and coach * 1949 - Walid Jumblatt, Leader of the Lebanese Druze * 1952 - Alexei Sayle, British comedian * 1953 - Anne Fadiman, American writer, daughter of Clifton Fadiman * 1954 - Jonathan Pollard, Israeli spy * 1955 - Vladimir Sorokin, Russian writer * 1955 - Wayne Knight, American actor * 1957 - Alexander Dityatin, Soviet gymnast * 1958 - Bruce Dickinson, English singer (Iron Maiden) * 1958 - Alberto Salazar, Member, American National Distance Running Hall of Fame * 1960 - David Duchovny, American actor * 1960 - Jacquie O'Sullivan, Singer and previous member of (Bananarama) * 1961 - Yelena Davydova, Soviet gymnast * 1962 - Bruno Pelletier, Québécois singer * 1963 - Harold Perrineau Jr., American actor * 1964 - Michael Weishan, American TV host, author * 1964 - John Birmingham, Australian author * 1966 - Kristin Hersh, American singer and guitarist (Throwing Muses) * 1966 - Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia * 1967 - Jason Grimsley, American baseball player * 1968 - Lynn Strait, American singer (Snot) * 1971 - Sydney Penny, American actress * 1971 - Rachel York, American actress and singer * 1972 - Greg Serano, American actor * 1973 - Danny Graves, American baseball player * 1975 - Edgar Renteria, Colombian baseball player * 1975 - David Hicks, Australian alleged terrorist * 1975 - Charlize Theron, South African actress * 1976 - Jeffrey Durrum, American Supermodel * 1976 - Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos, Greek footballer * 1978 - Jamey Jasta, American singer (Hatebreed) * 1978 - Alexandre Aja, French director * 1978 - Vanness Wu, Taiwanese singer * 1978 - Linsey Dawn McKenzie, English model and porn star * 1978 - Cirroc Lofton, American actor * 1978 - Shirley Yeung, Hong Kong actress * 1979 - Eric Johnson, American actor * 1980 - Aurélie Claudel, French supermodel * 1982 - Yana Klochkova, Ukrainian swimmer * 1982 - Vasileios Spanoulis, Greek basketball player * 1983 - Tina O'Brien, British actress * 1983 - Robert Flores, American baseball player * 1983 - Christian Chávez, Mexican singer and actor, member of RBD * 1987 - Sidney Crosby, Canadian hockey player * 1988 - Melody Oliveria, American internet blogger * 1996 - Tessa Allen, American actress Deaths * 461 - Majorian, Roman Emperor (assassinated) (b. 420) * 479 - Emperor Yūryaku of Japan * 1106 - Henry IV (b. 1050) * 1485 - Alexander Stewart, Scottish prince * 1613 - Thomas Fleming, English judge (b. 1544) * 1616 - Vincenzo Scamozzi, Italian architect (b. 1548) * 1635 - Friedrich von Spee, German writer (b. 1591) * 1639 - Martin van den Hove, Dutch scientist (b. 1605) * 1661 - Jin Shengtan, Chinese editor, writer and critic (b. 1608) * 1817 - Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, French industrialist (b. 1739) * 1834 - Joseph Marie Jacquard, French weaver and inventor (b. 1752) * 1848 - Jöns Jakob Berzelius, Swedish chemist (b. 1779) * 1855 - Mariano Arista, President of Mexico (b. 1802) * 1912 - François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss hydrologist (b. 1841) * 1917 - Squadron Commander E.H. Dunning, first pilot to land his aircraft on a moving ship. (b. 1891) * 1938 - Constantin Stanislavski, Russian/Soviet theatre practitioner (b. 1863) * 1941 - Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1861) * 1957 - Oliver Hardy, American comedian and actor (b. 1892) * 1969 - Joseph Kosma, French composer (Autumn Leaves) (b. 1905) * 1972 - Joi Lansing, American model and actress (b. 1929) * 1974 - Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet (b. 1925) * 1974 - Sylvio Mantha, professional ice hockey player (b. 1902) * 1984 - Esther Phillips, American singer (b. 1935) * 1985 - Grayson Hall, American actress (b. 1923) * 1987 - Camille Chamoun, Lebanese President (b. 1900) * 1989 - Mickey Leland, American politician, United States Congressman from Texas (b. 1944) * 1992 - John Anderson, American actor (b. 1922) * 1994 - Larry Martyn, comedy actor (b. 1934) * 1995 - Brigid Brophy, British author (b. 1929) * 1999 - Brion James, American actor (b. 1945) * 2003 - Mickey McDermott, baseball player (b. 1929) * 2004 - Red Adair, American oil field firefighter (b. 1915) * 2004 - Colin Bibby, English ornithologist (b. 1948) * 2005 - Peter Jennings, Canadian-born news anchor (b. 1938) * 2006 - Mary Anderson Bain, American New Deal politician (b. 1911) * 2007 - Hal Fishman, Los Angeles based local news anchor. (b. 1931) * 2007 - Ernesto Alonso, Mexican actor, director and producer. (b. 1917) * 2007 - Angus Tait, New Zealand electronics innovator and businessman (b. 1919) Holidays and observances * BC Day - Province of Canada. * Civic Holiday - Canada. * Emancipation Day - Turks and Caicos Islands. * National Holiday in Colombia: Battle of Boyaca, birth of Bogotá. Roman Catholicism * St. Afra, virgin martyr * St. Albert of Trapani (Albert of Sicily) * Saint Cajetan of Thienna, priest, confessor common * St. Carpophorus * St. Peter, Julian and Companions * Saint Sixtus II and companions, martyrs (sometimes only confessors) common * Saint Juliana of Cornillon * Saint Mary of Egypt Trier External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:August